title: A multisite, community oncology-based randomized trial of a brief educational intervention to increase communication regarding complementary and alternative medicine.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is widespread, yet there is relatively little discussion regarding its use between oncology patients and their health care practitioners.
  
  
  METHODS
  This multisite randomized trial examined the efficacy of an educational intervention designed to encourage oncology nurses to discuss CAM use with their patients. A total of 175 nurses completed questionnaires about discussing CAM use with patients at baseline and 2 months after the intervention. Patients at baseline (N = 699) and different patients at follow-up (N = 650) completed questionnaires regarding CAM.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At the 2-month follow-up, nurses in the intervention reported they were more likely to ask about CAM use than those in the control group (odds ratio, 4.2; P = .005). However, no significant effect was found for the percentage of patients who indicated that they were asked about CAM use (odds ratio, 2.1; P > .10). Approximately 40% of patients reported using CAM after their cancer diagnosis, yet the majority of nurses estimated that < 25% of their patients were using CAM.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CAM use in community-based oncology patients is common and is underestimated by oncology nurses. The brief, low-intensity intervention presented herein was found to be sufficiently powerful to change nurses' perceptions of their behavior but may not have been intensive enough to yield changes that were evident to patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Patricia A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Urbauer
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Fisch
authors.forename: Bryan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fellman
authors.forename: Holly
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hough
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lanzotti
authors.forename: Mindy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Whisnant
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: Lori
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fellenz
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bury
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kokx
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Finn
authors.forename: Maureen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Daily
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cohen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002173:Cancer Care Facilities; D003142:Communication; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000193:education* / Q000451:nursing* / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D009859:Oncology Nursing / Q000193:education*
keywords: cancer; community-based; complementary and alternative medicine; educational intervention